


Only You Came Along & Asked Why the World's so Blue

by dwarrowkings



Series: Gentleman's Wager Series - took my word I took your wine [3]
Category: Gentleman's Wager Series
Genre: 18 minute of whiskey adverts, Age Difference, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, M/M, This is raged G for get you a boy like Giancarlo, jude's last name before they get married is also walker because i'm a nerd, to be clear: Giancarlo did NOT hurt Jude
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:08:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26222377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dwarrowkings/pseuds/dwarrowkings
Summary: “You were transcendent, as always.” He says. Jude can tell that he isn’t lying, but he knows that there’s something that Giancarlo isn’t telling him. He’s had enough insults wrapped in compliments  to recognize when someone is overcompensating by not saying something. Jude’s excitement turns to dread.“You hated it.” He pouts. He knows being immature, but he can’t help it. He likes Giancarlo, and he wants Giancarlo to like him. He’s been scrambling to figure out a way to make that happen, but the only way he can think of is the way he makes other people like him. He knows it isn’t good enough, but it’s the best he’s got.---Jude is excited to hear what Giancarlo thinks of his new ad campaign. But Giancarlo doesn't seem happy about something in the spread. Jude blames himself.
Relationships: Jude Walker/Giancarlo Walker
Series: Gentleman's Wager Series - took my word I took your wine [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1897531
Comments: 6
Kudos: 5





	Only You Came Along & Asked Why the World's so Blue

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on two short films:[A Gentleman's Wager](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4393i2-OWk) and [A Gentleman's Wager II](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TgSW9EjnqE). 
> 
> Title is from "Grace & Speed" by Vandaveer.
> 
> hanks to [@lurlur](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lurlur/pseuds/Lurlur) for being a great bearfriend and encouraging the fuck out of this... whatever this is.

“I saw your most recent spread.” Giancarlo says when he answers the phone. His voice is tinny and sounds far away. Probably on speaker phone, like the businessman he is. Somehow, the fondness still shines through. 

“Oh did you?” Jude says, his voice a little raised, a little flirty. He rolls over on his bed like a teenage girl in a movie. He stares at his ceiling, feet dangling over the edge of his bed. He bounces one, and then the other, anxious to hear what Giancarlo has to say. He was proud of that spread, since he was wearing a suit that had been made out of wool that Giancarlo’s company had produced. It had been tailored to fit him specifically, instead of pre-made and pinned back to look like it had fit. 

“You were transcendent, as always.” He says. Jude can tell that he isn’t lying, but he knows that there’s something that Giancarlo isn’t telling him. He’s had enough insults wrapped in compliments to recognize when someone is overcompensating by not saying something. Jude’s excitement turns to dread.

“You hated it.” He pouts. He knows being immature, but he can’t help it. He likes Giancarlo, and he wants Giancarlo to like him. He’s been scrambling to figure out a way to make that happen, but the only way he can think of is the way he makes other people like him. He knows it isn’t good enough, but it’s the best he’s got. 

“I didn’t hate it. I just said that you were transcendent.” Giancarlo says. His confused voice sounds genuine. Doubt upon doubt curls in Jude’s stomach. Now, even more than before, he’s sure he’s wrong. But about what? 

“Yes, but what else?”

“You were magnificent, ethereal, gorgeous.” Giancarlo says. He doesn’t sound like he’s lying now, but heard what he said earlier. He wasn’t lying then then his voice had said that something in the spread was missing. He’d only been looking at it for Jude, and that meant that there had been something wrong with him. 

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” Jude snaps. 

“I do not understand, coniglietto*. You looked almost as radiant as you do in person. I have said so.” That soothes some of Jude’s ruffled feathers, but there’s still a well of hurt inside that has already started to boil. 

“Almost?” Jude chokes. People always tell him that he looks better on film - with lighting and framing. Photoshop. 

“Jude Walker.” Giancarlo says, voice firm. Jude doesn’t snap to attention, but it’s a near thing. It does stop him from crying, so at least there’s that. 

Instead of saying anything he lets out a garbled “hnn?” noise. 

“Tell me what’s wrong.” The words are firm, but Giancarlo’s voice is so gentle. It’s like rubbing your face on a baby blanket - soothing and warm and soft.

“You didn’t like the spread.” _You didn’t like me._ Jude’s voice is small. It hurts to admit even that much. 

“The spread was fine, Jude. You were angelic.” Jude makes a small noise. “Radiant.” Giancarlo says. Jude sucks in a breath. 

“But there was something you didn’t like about it.” Logic says that it can’t be Jude. Giancarlo’s words are finally starting to break through, but that small, hurt part inside of him still says that Giancarlo is displeased. Jude wants very much to please him. 

Giancarlo makes a thoughtful noise. Jude aches to see his face to help better figure out what it is. 

“The suit didn’t fit you very well.” Giancarlo admits. It’s so out of left field that for a moment, Jude doesn’t even know how to formulate words. 

“I had it tailored?” His voice is strangled and tips upward, to make it a question. 

“Yes, it fit your body very well. But it didn’t fit _you_ very well. You would not have been able to lift your arms.” Giancarlo was right. He couldn’t lift his arms very high for the whole shoot. It hadn’t been a big deal at the time, because what need would he have had to lift his arms? 

“And that’s it. You didn’t like the suit.” The world feels slowed down and muted. In the dark of his room, he can feel the tectonic plates of his life shift. A mountain range rises where there had been hills before. Jude realizes he could spend a lifetime exploring them - the caves and ridges. The valleys and the peaks. Each as beautiful and filled with love as the last. 

“The suit looked all right, but the tailor was not very kind to you.” Like it was that simple. And maybe for Giancarlo, it was. Maybe, for Jude, it could be too.

**Author's Note:**

> coniglietto = bunny


End file.
